smith



H. SMITH DOORCHEGK June 2, 1931.

Filed"Aug. 4, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY H. SMITH DOORCHECK June 2, 1931.

Filed Aug. 4, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY T J HENRY SMITH, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 'IO MANHATTAN ELECTRICAL SUPPLY I closed position.

Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PA E T OFFICE- GOMPANY, INCL, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY V DOORGHECK Application filed August 4,

sitioned between the abutment and the rotatable drum so as to cause a braking action upon rotation of the drum in one direction corresponding to the closing of the doorto which the door check is attached.

"The object of the present invention is to modify the structure of the door check disclosed inthe above mentioned application so as to adapt it to operate inconjunction with doors which swing in two directions from a The general manner in which I accomplish this result is by associate ing two single door check mechanisms in opposed relation within a' single casing and providing means whereby one of said single door j, checks is caused to operate when the swinging door is opened in one direction and the other one of said single door checks is caused to operate when the swinging door is operated in the opposite direction. Another object is the provision of a check for swinging doors which may be so adjusted as to cause the door to swing in one of its open positions in a manner independent of that in which it swings in the other of These and other objects andthe manner of attaining them will be understood more clearly by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accome panying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates in vertical cross-section a door check constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the door check shown in Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views of the door check taken along lines 33 and 44, re-

spectively, of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan View s of a plate used to attach the check to a door; Fig.6 is a view in elevation showing the check as attached to a door and Fig. '2' shows a modified form of wedge.

braking efl'ects as well.

1927. Serial No. 210,618.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 indicates a housing whichis provided with two cover plates 2 and 3 which fit on the top, and bottom, respectively, of the housing. Rotatably mounted within the housing 1 andsupported by the end plates 2 and 8 is a shaft 4. Shaft 4 has rotatably mounted thereon two brake drums 5 and 6. Each of these drums has an extension sleeve 7 upon which is rotatably mounted a sleeve 8 which in turn carries a pair of spring pressed pawls 10. and 11 which engage teeth 12 cut in the end. of the sleeve 7. Mounted on and secured to each of the sleeves 8 and secured to the house ing 1 is a spiral spring 13. These springs serve to rotate the brake drums and sleeves to which they are attached, when the springs.

are under tension, and are so arranged as to rotate the drums in opposite. directlons. In order to prevent rotatlon of the brake drums 5 and 6 beyond adesired limit, a projection,

and prevent further movement of the drums- By means of the sleeves upon which the springs are mounted, and the pawls coacting with them, any desired tension may. be ap-\ plied to the springs.

These springs 13 serve to close the door to which the check is attached and as some doors swing more easily than other doors it may be desirable at times to adjust the tension of the springs to make ghem function correctly with a particular oor.

to a stronger tension than theothe-r, which might be necessary wherea door is subject to.

By means of the spring adjustmentsv disclosed, it is possible to adjust one spring Under these circumstances and others it might also be opportune to adjust the friction wedges to produce unequal Shaft 4: which may be connected by an arm (not shown) to the door casing of the door to which the doorcheck is attached in the usual manner, is provided with a pin 15 which passes through and issecured to the shaft ina suitable manner.

- This pin serves, through the agency of a projection 16 attached to brake drum 5 and a projection 17 attached to the brake drum 6, to rotate one of the drums, depending upon which way the shaft is rotated, and to coil up the spring cooperating with that particular drum. This mechanism might be called a selective clutch. When the force which tends to turn shaft 4 is released, the shaft will immediately be turned back to its initial position by one of the springs 13, depending upon which one. of the drums was turned by the rotation of the shaft 4. Taking the case where the upper spring is the one which has been coiled up, and which now tends to re tate the shaft 4, a brake means consisting of a wedge 18, which may be either flat or arcuate, as shown in Fig. 7, and an abutment 19.has been provided in order to retard. the rotation of the brake drum upon its return to its normal position. This wedge is secured to a screw 20which extends through the casing 1 and is held in position by a nut 21. Positioned around the screw 20 and serving to push the wedge between the abutment and the brake drum is a spring 22. As the drum rotates back to its normal position after having been turned away from that position by rotation of shaft 4, wedge 18 is drawn in between the surface of brake drumb and the abutment 19, which causes a retarding action to be exerted on the drum 5. lnorder to provide greater braking action the wedge 18 is faced. with leather or brake lining. The amount of retardation or braking may be regulated by adjusting the nut 21 on. the screw 20 and thereby regulating the distance to. which wedge 18 may be drawn in between the brake drum. 5 and the abutment 19. In order. to release the braking effect just before the drum has returned to its normal position a mutilation28 is made on the braking sure face of the drum in order to prevent the friction action of the wedge 18. The practical reason for positioning this mutilation 23 in this. position is to cause the door to which the check is attached to be snappedshut forcibly just before the door reaches its final position. However, the mutilation may be positioned at other points on the drums as well, in order to give the desired results. In order, that the shaft may at all times be under the control of the spring a second projection 24 is provided on the brake drum 6 and a secondprojection 25 is provided on the brake drum 5. of a squarepin slidably mountedin the brake drum and having aturned-over headportion which serves to engage with a cam arm se-. cured to the housing 1.

Referring more particularly to the pin associated, with the brake drum 6, it will be noted that, the pin, 24, is engaged by a cam arm 26. The function of this cam arm 26 is, j ustbefore thebrake drum 6-has returned to, its neutral position, to. engage the head Each of these projections consists,

portion of pin 24 and draw the pin down through the brake drum 6 out of the path of the pin 15, as shown in Fig. 1. In order to push the pin 24 out as soon as the head of the pin disengages with the cam arm 26 a spring 27 is provided.

As the shaft 4 is rotated by the opening of the door a slight amount, the pin 15 engages with projection 17 on the brake drum 6 and causes the drum to be rotated slightly, and the spring 13, due to the connection through the pawl and ratchet arrangement, to be in creased in tension. Just as soon as the brake drum 6 has moved a small amount the head of pin 24 will slip off of the end of the cam arm 26 and the pin 24 will be forced behind the pin 15, under the influence of spring 27. The pin 24 will: remain in this position while the door is being opened to its fullest extentand if it is attempted to close the door too rapidly, the pin 15 will at once disengage projection 17 and engage the pin 24, thus causing the brake drum 6 to be rotated and the braking action of the wedge to be exerted, whereby any slamming of the door will be prevented. \Vere the door simply released after being opened, the pin 24 would; perform no duty as theshaft 4- would be r0- tated not by the closing of the door, but by the rotation of the brake drum under the influence of the spring 13. The two brake drums, cooperating wedges and pins are identical except that they operate in opposite directions; thatis to say, when the-swinging door is opened in one direction, one of the brake drums and springs is affected and when the door is opened in the opposite direction, the other brake drum and spring is afiected. As heretofore stated, in order that the door may be snapped shut just beforev it reaches its closed position, it may sometimes be found desirable to mutilate each of the brake drums at such a point that ust before the drums have reached their normal or neutral position up. against the stop 28 the brakingeffect of the wedges will be released. This is accomplished merely by cutting off a, section of the periphery of the brake drum, as shown at 23.

As heretofore stated, the door check may be installed in the usual manner by attaching the check to the door and, interconnecting an arm frointhe shaft of' the check to the door casing. I find it preferable, however, as illustrated in Fig. 6, to positionthe check in a pocket cut out of the floor 37 just below the hinge of the door and to interconnect the, check with the door by means ofa plate such, as 29 (Fig. 5) adjustably secured to the door by means of an adjustable joint. Referring to Fig. 6, the plate 29 is attached to the door 36. by two screws passing through holes 31 and 32 in the plate. One of these screws, 34, serves as a pivotal connection and the other, of which, 35, serves to hold; the plate in a,

given position around the pivot. The squared end of the door check shaft 4 is seated in a square perforation 30 in plate 29 and is spaced from the plate by a shoulder 33 around the perforation 30. The function of the pivotal connection between the plate and the door is to allow for any misalignment of the door and check.

The door check may, if desirable, be utilized as the upper or lower hinge of the door and likewise the position of the check and plate 29 may be reversed so that the check is attached to the door rather than placed in a pocket in the floor.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a wide variety of modifications and adaptations and that the present disclosure is intended merely to illustrate its nature without limiting its scope, which is defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a check for an oscillating body, a shaft rotatable responsive to oscillation of said body, a pair of friction brakes comprising drums associated with said shaft, means mounted on said drums cooperating with means mounted on said shaft for causing one of said brakes to retard rotation of said shaft in only one direction for a given portion of its travel, and means for causing the other of said brakes to retard rotation of said shaft in the opposite direction only for a portion of its rotation.

2. In a door check for a swinging door, a

shaft rotatable responsive to the swinging of said door, a pair of brake drums rotatably mounted on said shaft, braking means, comprising a friction wedge cooperating with each of said brake drums, and means on the shaft for engaging a coacting part on one of said drums upon the rotation of the shaft in one direction only and for engaging a coacting part on the other of said drums upon rotatlion of the shaft in the opposite direction on 3 In a door check for doors adapted to swing in two directions from a closed position, a shaft, a pair of brake drums and cooperating friction wedges associated with said shaft, means for causing rotation of said shaft in one direction upon opening the door in one direction and rotation of said shaft in the opposite direction upon opening the door in the opposite direction, and projections on said drums responsive to rotation of a pin on said shaft in one direction only for causing one of said brake drums and friction wedges to control the movement of the door and for causing the other of said friction drums and wedges to control the movement of the door in the opposite direction only.

i. In a door check for doors arranged to swing in two diflerent arcs from a closed position, a shaft, a pair of friction checksoperatively associated with said shaft, and a selective clutch for actuating one of said checks upon swinging of the door in one are only, 1 and the other of said checks upon swinging of the door inthe other of said arcs only.

' 5.'A check for bodies arranged to oscillate intwo different arcs froma closed position, comprising a shaft, a pair of single-acting friction checks, and a selective clutch for operatively interconnecting said shaft and only one of said checks upon oscillation of the body in one ofsaid arcs and for interconnecting said shaft and only the other of said checks upon oscillation of the body in theother of said arcs only.

6.: In a door check for the control of doors adapted to-swing in two quadrants, a shaft, a pair of brake drums'mounted on said shaft, a friction wedge and an abutment cooperat ing with each of said drums, a projectionon each of said drums, and means on the shaft cooperating with said projections for causing one of said brake drums to control the swinging of the doorin'onequadrant only and the other of said brake drums to control the swinging of the door inthe other of said quadrants only. i

-7. In a door check for the control of doors adapted to swing in two quadrants, arotatableshaft, a pair of brake drums rotatably mounted on said-shaft, a friction wedge and an abutment'cooperating with each of said drums, and-means coinpjrising'a pin on said shaft for interlocking one of said drumsand the shaft upon swinging of the drum in one quadrant only and interlocking the other of said drums andtlie shaft upon swinging of the door in the other of said quadrants only.

8. In a door check for doors capable of swinging in twodirections from a closed po sition, a casing, a rotatable shaft mounted within the casing, a pair of brake drums rotatably mounted on said shaft, a key on said shaft for engaging one of said drums upon rotation of the shaft in one direction only and the other of said drums upon rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction only, a stop on the housing and a cooperating projection on each of the drums, springs for maintaining said projections against said stop, brake means associated with said drums, and means responsive to rotation of each of the said drums for positively interlocking said drum to said shaft so that rotation of the shaft in either direction at any angular position will be accompanied by rotation of one of the drums.

9. In a door check for swinging doors, a shaft, a pair of brake drums rotatably mounted on said shaft, a tubular extension sleeve attached to each of said drums, a spring mounted on each of said sleeves, one in opposed relation to the other, a friction wedge and an abutment cooperatingwith each of: said; drums, a prqection on each of said: drums;

for engaging a pin secured to said shaft, said pins and said projectionsbeing so related that; rotation of the said sh aftlresponsive toswing ing of; the door in one direction onlyis; con

trolled by one of said brake drums, and 1'0?- tation of the shaft responsive to swinging of the door in the opposite direction only is;

controlled bytheother of said brake drums.

10. In a door check for doors-arrangedtoswing in two different: arcs, from a closed position, a pair of single acting doorchecks,

.a shaft common to said checks and-rotatable independently of said checks, anda key attached to said shaft and cooperating with projections on the checks for actuating one,

of said checks. upon sWinging-ofthe door in one of said arcs only and the other of said checks upon the swinging of the door in the other of said arcs only.

11. In .a door check, a shaft adapted to rotate in opposite directions from aneutral position, to a first position and a second position respectively, spring means for maintaining said shaft in said neutral position, a first retarding means for retarding only rotation of said shaft from said first to said neutral position, a second means for retarding only rotation of said shaft from said second to said neutral position and selective means for coupling said shaft to said first retarding means responsivetorotation ofsaid shaft between said neutral and first positions and for coupling said shaft to said second retarding means responsive to rotation of said shaft between said neutral'and said second position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tothis specification, August, 1927.

HENRY SMITH.

men-m this 2nd day of 

